OPATOVAC, Croatia (AP) — The latest news as asylum-seekers make their way across Europe by the tens of thousands, fleeing war or seeking a ...
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How the world sees Greece
Sunday, October 25, 2015
The Latest: A woman and 2 children drown off GREEK island Lesbos; 7 others missing
COLUMN: Addressing skepticism about faith and GREEK Life
Few even view GREEK Life as being a cult involving sacred symbols, rites of passage and places where everyone follows the same ideals. Being in a ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.cm-life.com |
Fraternities and Sororities of Faith: John Cofrancesco, Class of 2010
While stereotypes abound, the truth is that GREEK organizations, and particularly those based on faith, are a critical backstop to save young people ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT cuatower.com |
When Tsipras is eliminating any trace of his opponents!
By erasing from the official site of the GREEK Parliament - for all time - everything that could recall Zoe Konstantopoulou and her initiatives during her ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT cadtm.org |
Albania-Italy route could see new migrant flow, EU fears
The European Union is concerned that people-smugglers could open a new sea route to Italy from Albania if land borders in the Balkans are sealed, EU officials said on Sunday. Two decades after the 80-km (50-mile) Adriatic crossing saw shiploads of Albanians fleeing post-communist chaos, EU and Balkan leaders meeting in Brussels to try and control refugee movements planned to agree tighter supervision of the overland route to Albania from Greece, where most migrants enter Europe. "There is a risk that the route to Albania and Italy may become the new route in winter," one senior EU official told Reuters.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.news.yahoo.com |
No easy answers at EU migrant summit
Nearly 250,000 migrants have passed through the Balkans since mid-September and the surge is not being deterred by either cold weather or colder waters off Greece.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.csmonitor.com |
'Let the children first be killed': The 10 worst typos in the Bible
“Holy ghost” — A mistranslation from GREEK of the word “pneuma” — meaning breath or spirit — had believers expelling ghosts when they exhaled.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.rawstory.com |
Turkey urges EU to fulfill pledges to tackle EU migrants issue
Yenel said the GREEK Cypriots, who are engaged in longstanding peace talks with Turkish Cypriots on the divided Mediterranean island, have ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dailysabah.com |
GREEK FM arrives in Cyprus for three-day visit
GREEK Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will visit Cyprus from today until Wednesday for a series of talks with government officials and representatives of ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT famagusta-gazette.com |
Giannis Antetokounmpo goes full GREEK Freak on Shabazz Muhammad
He announced that the GREEK Freak will not only slide up and down the two forward spots in the upcoming season but might actually see time at all five ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT newzy.net |
Refugees will freeze to death, warn EU head
Migrants and refugees prepare to board a train heading to Serbia from the Macedonian-GREEK border near Gevgelija Photo: AFP. Werner Faymann ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.telegraph.co.uk |
Slovenia Warns Of EU Collapse Under Strain Of Refugee Crisis
ImageContent(562d2fefe4b0443bb564460b,562d2fcb1400001b013c9127,Image,HectorAssetUrl(562d2fcb1400001b013c9127.jpeg,Some(),Some(jpeg)),Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images,) The European Union faces collapse if the bloc cannot agree on a plan to confront the sudden influx of refugees through the Balkans, Slovenia's premier warned on Sunday as leaders bickered over who was to blame for the crisis. Nine days after Hungary's move to seal its southern border drove unprecedented migrant flows into tiny Slovenia, Prime Minister Miro Cerar sent out a dramatic call to fellow central and eastern leaders in Brussels for emergency talks. "If we don't find a solution today, if we don't do everything we can today, then it is the end of the European Union as such," Cerar said. "If we don't deliver concrete action, I believe Europe will start falling apart," he told reporters. Fleeing war and oppression to seek a new life in Germany and northern Europe, refugees have continued to come through the western Balkans and have shifted west into Slovenia after Hungary's border fencing was completed. Since Oct. 17, more than 62,000 migrants have arrived in Slovenia, with some 14,000 still passing through the country on Sunday. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was unrepentant, describing his country as an "observer" in the crisis since the border closures and that he had no advice to give other leaders. But such apparent detachment was not shared by many at the meeting. Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov quoted U.S. independence hero Benjamin Franklin saying: "If we don't stick together we will hang separately." With winter approaching, Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU's chief executive, called the leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia to Brussels to seek a common approach. More than 680,000 migrants and refugees have crossed to Europe by sea so far this year from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, according to the International Organization for Migration. RELATED COVERAGE › Germany's Merkel: we need Turkey to help solve migrant crisis Following years of economic crisis, Europe's governments are struggling to cope with an influx of people from countries including Syria, where Russia's intervention has complicated efforts to end nearly five years of civil war. BORDER GUARDS Despite an agreed framework to relocate some migrants already in Europe, a broader common policy is still embryonic, with this latest meeting trying to heal a rift over whether to welcome more migrants or toughen up the EU's external borders. In a 16-point plan seen by Reuters, leaders will try to balance their approach, likely agreeing to send 400 border guards to the western Balkan border if the EU's frontier states drop their policy of giving arrivals passage to other countries. Cerar said Croatia, which has already seen some 230,000 migrants pass through since mid-September, was still waiving migrants through into Slovenia without alerting Slovenia authorities. In the draft statement, the leaders seek to speed up repatriations of people from South Asia, namely Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose asylum requests are rejected because they are simply seeking a better life and not fleeing war or oppression. Germany, which has troops in Afghanistan helping to stabilize the country under a NATO mission, wants the European Commission to negotiate an agreement on returning people to Afghanistan whose asylum applications have been rejected. "We commit to immediately increase our efforts to manage our borders," the draft said, which, if formalized, would also mean more ships off Greece to deter people traffickers, more land border checks in Macedonia and more money for border control. RELATED COVERAGE › Airbus boss calls on Germany to open up labor market to refugees Even with agreement on the 16-point plan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned that there would be no solution without Turkey, which was not invited to the meeting. "We will not solve the refugee problem completely, we need, among other things, further talks with Turkey for that," Merkel said. "Only with Turkey we can switch illegality to legality. It is very important that the (European) Commission discusses further the migration agenda with Turkey," she said. Brussels has presented Ankara with a so-called action plan in which Turkey receives EU funding to absorb more migrants fleeing Syria in return for easier travel rules to Europe and a broadening of long-running talks on eventual Turkish membership of the bloc. That could mean the European Union sending some 3 billion euros ($3.31 billion) in aid. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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More EU Countries Threaten Border Closings
In recent years, Europe has confiscated some people's bank accounts in GREECE and Cyprus. That was supposed to be impossible as well. That's why ...
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Actor Orlando Bloom Recounts 'Heartbreaking' Visit With Refugees in GREECE, Macedonia
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom, who recently traveled to Macedonia and GREECE to meet refugees, says countries around the world ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.newsweek.com |
Company Shares of National Bank of GREECE SA (NYSE:NBG) Rally 9.26%
Shares of National Bank of GREECE SA (NYSE:NBG) rose by 9.26% in the past week and 46.28% for the last 4 weeks. In the past week, the shares ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.insidertradingreport.org |
Slovenia Urges EU to Help Protect Greek-Turkish Border Amid Migrant Crisis
… control on the border between Greece and Turkey. The European Union … give all possible assistance to Greece, that such control will be … be sent to Greece in order to help Greece police and other …
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT world.einnews.com |
World Bank to invest in GREEK projects
Kathimerini has learned that the IFC is even considering whether to participate in the recapitalization of GREEK banks, a move that would lend the effort ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Miss America visits GREEK festival at her home parish in Macon
Betty Cantrell fans herself after belting out a country song at the GREEK Festival where she was welcomed by Holy Cross GREEK Orthodox Church ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.macon.com |
Hedge funds merit part in NPL dealing
International lenders and GREEK authorities appear to be at odds over how to best deal with the large stock of bad loans sitting in local banks' books, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
EU aims to defuse Balkan migrant tensions
Berlin and Brussels press Greece to build camp for 50,000 to control flow
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ft.com |
Earthquake: M 4.7
Earthquake: M 4.7 - 19km NNW of Megalopolis, GREECE. Partner Disclaimer: This item was submitted to breakingnews.com, but has not been ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.breakingnews.com |
Merkel and East European Leaders Discuss Migrant Crisis in Brussels
In the five months since the Commission first announced a plan to relocate 40,000 refugees from GREECE and Italy to other European countries, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nytimes.com |
Amid rising US influence, gov't wkeeps open channel with Russia
The balance of these opposing forces will also determine the Russian investment agenda in GREECE. The benchmark as well as the lever for Russian ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com |
Greek Prime Minister Calls for Collective Solution of Refugee Crisis
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras underlined the need for a European solution to the refugee crisis, upon his arrival at the leaders EU Summit in Brussels on Sunday. “I hope common ground can be found for this difficult problem. I believe we are before a huge humanitarian crisis. We must try to find a European solution”, stated Tsipras, adding that
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
The Latest: Slovenia demands more EU help on refugees
Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar says he will take action to protect his nation's security if other European countries — notably Croatia — do not help Slovenia cope with the migrant influx. Greece's coast guard says a woman and two children aged 7 and 2 have drowned after their boat smashed into coastal rocks on the island of Lesbos amid turbulent seas. The coast guard says the boat carried 63 migrants at the time and 53 of the passengers were rescued. The bodies of the dead have been recovered and two helicopters and two ships, from the Greek coast guard and from the EU border agency Frontex, continue the search. German authorities say three people were injured when a fight broke out over religious differences between two groups in a home for asylum seekers. Dresden police said Sunday that about 100 people were involved in the fight overnight in the asylum center in nearby Niederau, the dpa news agency reported. Croatia says a record number of 11,500 migrants have entered the country in one day in a sign that the flow of people toward Western Europe is not abating. Interior Ministry spokesman Domagoj Dzigulovic said Sunday that the number of people who crossed into the country on Saturday was the highest in a single day since migrants started coming to Croatia in mid-September.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com |
The price of being a refugee: Shocking pictures show bodies of children aged seven and two washed up on the island of Lesbos after boat smashes into the rocks
Coastguards say the two young refugees, aged seven and two, were on an inflatable dinghy carrying 63 migrants to the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dailymail.co.uk |
18th annual breast cancer walk returns to Louisville's Waterfront
ATHENS, GREECE - 2015/10/15: The GREEK parliament with the collaboration of Europa Donna Hellas comemmorated Breast Health day by ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.whas11.com |
Foreign Minister Kotzias’ interview in Cyprus’ “Sunday Phileleftheros”, with journalist K. Venizelos
JOURNALIST: The Greek government has pointed up the issue of guarantees as a key issue of its foreign policy. Is this policy paying off? Is it gaining ground internationally?N. KOTZIAS: First of all, let’s agree that it is a correct policy that places the Cyprus issue on its real foundations. The Cyprus issue is not first and foremost an issue of dividing natural resources or of disputes between the communities. It is a problem of the occupation and use of violence on the level of inter-state relations. When we stated publicly to the international community that the occupation forces must...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
EU leaders seek to defuse Balkan tensions over migrants ...
Croatia’s Zoran Milanović said it was “pointless” to discuss anything but border control in Greece and Turkey; everything else was “nice Sunday afternoon ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ft.com |
Hollande’s Shaky Vote of Confidence in Alexis Tsipras
French President Francois Hollande stirred up a hornets nest in Athens where he undermined his effort to show support for Greece's economy. The post Hollande’s Shaky Vote of Confidence in Alexis Tsipras appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Greece Chases Foreign Assets
Frantic for every euro, tax collectors are going to pursue Greeks who invested in properties in the United Kingdom and Germany. The post Greece Chases Foreign Assets appeared first on The National Herald.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.thenationalherald.com |
Two Children Among Migrants Killed After Boat Sinks Off ...
More than half a million people have arrived in Greece this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. There are no precise figures for ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nytimes.com |
European leaders discuss refugee crisis at tense Brussels summit
Draft plan drew criticism for proposing Balkan countries should stop allowing refugees to pass into neighbouring countries without first securing consent European leaders have met for a tense summit in Brussels to try to agree a plan for managing large numbers of refugees making their way through Turkey, Greece and the western Balkans desperate to reach places such as Germany and Scandinavia before winter. But the draft plan under discussion had already drawn criticism before the meeting started on Sunday for proposing that Balkan and eastern European countries should stop allowing asylum seekers to pass through to other neighbouring countries without first securing agreement from those neighbours. Continue reading...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
Join community groups for a forum on the Syrian refugee crisis
Syrian refugees walk on the rocks after arriving from Turkey onto the shores of the GREEK island of Lesbos, in a inflatable dinghy, Monday, Oct. 12, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news10.com |
Greek PM: Turkey key for migrant crisis solution
… : --- 4:45 p.m. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says … if Turkey is not involved. Greece has been facing the brunt … Turkey, across the sea to Greece and into the 28-nation EU … mainly travel from Turkey to Greece and then go north to …
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT world.einnews.com |
Greek Health Minister Wary of Frail National Health System
Greek Health Minister Andreas Xanthos addressed the poor condition of the Greek National Health System (ESY) during an interview with Greek newspaper Kathimerini. “A large number of clinics have barely enough staff, so the smallest loss could upset the balance,” Kathimerini quotes Xanthos as saying. However, the minister added that the trend of continuous reductions in ESY
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Dombrovskis: Greece Can Return to Growth in the Second Half of 2016
I believe that Greece can return to growth in the second half of 2016, said European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis in an interview with VIMA newspaper. Dombrovskis also underlined that the “top priority is the implementation of the [bailout] programme and the successful completion of the evaluation”. On the debt issue, Dombrovskis referred to
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Greece Ranks Rock Bottom in High-Speed Internet ...
Greece is low-speed on the high-speed internet scale, with a rate of 0.4 percent in ultra-high-speed web connections. The majority of Greek households (70 ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
Refugee flow unabated as EU leaders hold summit on crisis
BRUSSELS (AP) — As thousands of Syrians, Afghans and others kept up their relentless march through the Balkans, European leaders held an emergency summit Sunday to find ways of easing the plight of those caught up in the continent's greatest immigration crisis in decades. In a draft of the meeting's conclusions seen by The Associated Press, the leaders were looking to shore up Greece's porous border with Turkey and slow the flow of people heading north toward the European Union's heartland. At Slovenia's overwhelmed Brezice refugee camp near the border with Croatia, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency urged leaders to come up with a system to register and screen newcomers when they first enter Europe, rather than in piecemeal attempts at borders along the way. A draft plan that they were to discuss has already drawn criticism for proposing that countries stop allowing asylum-seekers to pass across their borders without consulting with their neighbors. In the Austrian border town of Spielfeld, police said 2,500 asylum-seekers spent the night in tents and 7,000 more were expected to come in Sunday from Slovenia, the dpa news agency reported.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com |
Bank of Piraeus head says optimistic private equity can meet any shortfall
ATHENS (Reuters) - Bank of Piraeus chairman Michalis Sallas said on Sunday he was optimistic the bank could rely on private investors to meet any capital shortfall found in baseline scenario stress tests being conducted by the ECB. Sallas said "strong interest" had been shown by international institutional investors to any capital increase. "Based on this interest there is valid optimism that the required participation of the private sector will more than cover any capital needs which manifest on the baseline scenario of the stress test," he was quoted as saying in a news release by the bank. Bank of Piraeus is one of four Greek banks in line for recapitalization under the terms of an 86 billion euro ($94.75 billion) bailout that Greece has signed up to with international lenders. Banking sources say the banks' recapitalization needs are less than 20 billion euros. Results of the stress tests carried out by the European Central Bank to identify potential capital needs are due to be released by Oct. 31. (Reporting By Michele Kambas) Join the conversation about this story »
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com |
İstanbul churches united on 'Basic principles of Christianity' after 1700 years
For the first time after 1,700 years in the Christian world, the leaders of the GREEK Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac Orthodox, Catholic and ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.todayszaman.com |
GREEK Parliament Adopts New Legislation on GREEK Media
parliament The GREEK parliament legislated on Saturday evening a new bill that reforms rules and regulations for the operation of the media in Greece.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
The Latest: Greek PM Tsipras: EU must work with Turkey to ...
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says a summit of European Union and Balkan leaders on the migrant crisis is of little use if Turkey is not involved. Greece has ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.newser.com |
The next food revolution: fish farming?
Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food-producing sector in the world – and China is a big reason why. Technavio, a global market-research company, predicts that China’s aquaculture industry will reach $100 billion – the size of the most recent Greek bailout – within the next four years, up from $66 billion in 2012.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.news.yahoo.com |
Bodies of 29 immigrants found on Libya beach, 3 drown in GREECE
The bodies of 29 people, thought to be immigrants were discovered washed up on beaches near a city about 161 kilometers (99 miles) east of Tripoli.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.digitaljournal.com |
The most important charts in the world (DIA, SPX, SPY, QQQ, TLT, IWM)
Here they are: the most important charts in the world. As many of the charts in our latest collection from some of Wall Street's top strategists show, questions right now center on what the future holds for the US economy, for emerging markets, and the Federal Reserve. The last time we ran this feature back in February, the world looked different. The S&P 500 was about 4% higher and hadn't yet seen a 10% correction, which eventually came in a few frantic days in late August. The Federal Reserve, of course, still hasn't raised rates. Another Greek crisis came and went. So as we head towards the final few months of 2015, oil prices remain about 60% below where they were a year ago, the dollar has continued to power higher, while the Dow and S&P 500 are still in the red for the year. Here's what folks are thinking about. SEE ALSO: 25 CITIES WHERE RENTAL MARKETS ARE ON FIRE JEFFREY GUNDLACH, DOUBLELINE CAPITAL RICH BERNSTEIN, RICHARD BERNSTEIN ADVISORS GUILLERMO RODITI DOMINGUEZ, NEW RIVER INVESTMENTS See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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The Latest: Croatia reports record migrant entries in 1 day
OPATOVAC, Croatia (AP) — The latest news as asylum-seekers make their way across Europe by the tens of thousands, fleeing war or seeking a better life. All times local: ___ 4:45 p.m. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says a summit of European Union and Balkan leaders on the migrant crisis is of little use if Turkey is not involved. Greece has been facing the brunt of the crisis, as Syrians, Afghans and others by the hundreds of thousands flee their homelands through Turkey, across the sea to Greece and into the 28-nation EU. Tsipras chided some EU nations for only looking at ways to keep migrants out and not how to tackle the crisis together. "Unfortunately, till today, it was difficult to find a solution, because a series of countries adopt a stance of 'not in my own backyard,'" Tsipras said upon arriving at Sunday's summit in Brussels. And he said Turkey bears a special responsibility in the migrant crisis. Tsipras says "at the end of the (migrant) corridor, there is an entrance. So if we will not be able to agree with the country at the entrance, I am afraid that it will be very difficult to find a solution." ___ 4:05 p.m. Greece's coast guard says a woman and two children aged 7 and 2 have drowned after their boat smashed into coastal rocks on the island of Lesbos amid turbulent seas. The coast guard says the boat carried 63 migrants at the time and 53 of the passengers were rescued. Based on information from other passengers, another seven are missing, it said. The bodies of the dead have been recovered and two helicopters and two ships, from the Greek coast guard and from the EU border agency Frontex, continue the search. The coast guard says the nationalities of the victims and those rescued have not been verified yet. ___ 12:45 p.m. German authorities say three people were injured when a fight broke out over religious differences between two groups in a home for asylum seekers. Dresden police said Sunday that about 100 people were involved in the fight overnight in the asylum center in nearby Niederau, the dpa news agency reported. Police say an Afghan man was identified as the instigator and was taken into custody after he was treated for injuries. About 30 police officers helped break up the fight between an estimated 40 Afghans and about 60 others. ___ 12:45 p.m. Serbia's prime minister is calling for a "comprehensive solution" to the migrant crisis at the upcoming summit of several EU and Balkan nations. Aleksandar Vucic spoke Sunday before traveling to Brussels to meet the leaders of countries coping with the influx of tens of thousands of migrants hoping to reach Western Europe. Vucic said he expects "hard, not very pleasant" talks, but hopes for a "comprehensive solution." He insisted Serbia is not afraid of its "responsibility" and will not "put up any walls." But, Vucic also suggested his country will not agree to be the only migrant stop if countries further west close their borders. Nearly 250,000 migrants have passed through the Balkans since mid-September and the surge is not expected to stop despite colder weather. ___ 11:25 a.m. Croatia says a record number of 11,500 migrants have entered the country in one day in a sign that the flow of people toward Western Europe is not abating. Interior Ministry spokesman Domagoj Dzigulovic said Sunday that the number of people who crossed into the country on Saturday was the highest in a single day since migrants started coming to Croatia in mid-September. Migrants turned to Croatia after Hungary erected a barbed-wire fence along its border with Serbia. They now mainly travel from Turkey to Greece and then go north to Macedonia and Serbia before entering Croatia and move on to Slovenia and Austria. Most are aiming to get to Germany or Scandinavia. Police say nearly 250,000 have crossed through Croatia since mid-September. Join the conversation about this story »
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The Latest: Greek PM: Turkey Key for Migrant Crisis ...
OPATOVAC, Croatia — The latest news as asylum-seekers make their way across Europe by the tens of thousands, fleeing war or seeking a better life.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.nytimes.com |
Woman And 2 Children Drown After Refugee Boat Hits Rocks
ImageContent(562cbec3e4b0ec0a3894b717,562cbe851400001b013c9105,Image,HectorAssetUrl(562cbe851400001b013c9105.jpeg,Some(),Some(jpeg)),- via Getty Images,) ATHENS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - A woman and two children drowned when an inflatable dinghy carrying 63 migrants hit rocks off the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday, Greek authorities said. Seven people were still missing but the rest managed to reach land safely, a coastguard spokeswoman said. Their nationalities were not immediately clear. Dozens of refugees including many children have died trying to make the short but perilous journey from Turkey to Greece's outlying islands in recent months, often in overcrowded inflatables. EmbedContent(562cdf35e4b0aac0b8fd28b1,,Embed,aolon,Some({})) More than half a million people, many of them fleeing Syria's civil war, have managed to reach Greece on that route on their way to central and northern Europe. Europe's chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker was due to meet leaders from central and eastern Europe on Sunday to push for a coordinated response to the influx of refugees before the onset of winter. _ALSO ON HUFFPOST:_ CollectionContent(562cdf35e4b0aac0b8fd28b3,56057dc1e4b0af3706dc05a7,Collection,Slideshow) -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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EU Leaders Scramble To Slow Refugee Influx
ImageContent(562cebb7e4b0ec0a3894bafc,562ceb401400002b003c9112,Image,HectorAssetUrl(562ceb401400002b003c9112.jpeg,Some(),Some(jpeg)),ASSOCIATED PRESS,) European Union leaders will on Sunday consider sending hundreds of guards to its borders with the western Balkans, as well as deploying more ships off Greece, as the bloc seeks to balance Germany's welcome for refugees with tougher security measures. Central and eastern European leaders meeting in Brussels may agree to send 400 border guards and set up new checkpoints if the EU's frontier states drop their policy of giving arrivals passage to other countries, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters that must still be agreed. "We commit to immediately increase our efforts to manage our borders," the draft said, which, if formalized, would be a 16-point plan and the latest step in drawing up a common approach to dealing with the thousands of migrants streaming into the EU every day from the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan. Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU's chief executive, has called leaders of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia, plus refugee organizations involved, to attend the meeting in Brussels. Just two weeks after a full EU summit, the meeting was sought by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, diplomats said. Many see it as an attempt by Juncker and Merkel to raise pressure on central and southeast European states to coordinate among themselves in managing the migration flow in a more humane way and end a series of unilateral actions. "Every day counts," Juncker said on Sunday in an interview in German weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag. "Otherwise we will soon see families in cold rivers in the Balkans perish miserably." Still, some EU lawmakers in Britain and France have complained that all states should be there for the meeting at 1600 CET (1500 GMT) in Brussels and that France's absence in particular could limit progress on a plan. More than 680,000 migrants and refugees have crossed to Europe by sea so far this year, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, according to the International Organization for Migration. Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania said they would close their borders if Germany or other countries shut the door on refugees, warning they would not let the Balkan region become a "buffer zone" for stranded migrants. Hungary's decision to close its border with Serbia and Croatia has prompted others to follow, stranding tens of thousands in dire conditions as temperatures drop, although Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly said Serbia "will not build walls" to prevent entry of refugees. Over the past nine days, the migrant route has shifted west to Hungary's neighbor Slovenia where more than 62,000 migrants have arrived, with some 14,000 still passing through the country on Sunday. Many more are coming from Croatia, which has already seen some 230,000 migrants pass through since mid-September. "The challenge now is to slow down the flow of migration and to bring our external borders under control," Juncker told Bild. "We must also make it clear that people who arrive at our borders who are not looking for international protection have no right to enter the EU." In the draft statement, the leaders seek to speed up repatriations of people from South Asia, namely Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose asylum requests are rejected because they are simply seeking a better life and not fleeing war or oppression. Germany, which has troops in Afghanistan helping to stabilize the country under a NATO mission, wants the European Commission to negotiate an agreement on returning people to Afghanistan whose asylum applications have been rejected. INVESTMENT WARNING Following years of economic crisis, Europe's governments are struggling to cope with an influx of people fleeing war and oppression in countries including Syria, where Russia's intervention has complicated efforts to end nearly five years of civil war. The head of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, warned that more will be needed despite progress in agreeing a relocation plan for migrants already in southern Europe. "The immigration emergency will require enormous investments," he said in an interview published on Sunday in Italian business broadsheet Il Sole 24 Ore. "We will need new instruments to raise money in the large amounts necessary to finance countries that receive new arrivals, transit countries, countries that become final destinations." Germany expects at least 800,000 asylum seekers this year, almost 1 percent of the population. As towns struggle to look after refugees and migrants and tackle right-wing attacks on shelters, Merkel's message that Germany will cope looks optimistic to voters. The lack of a common policy is also straining ties between European leaders, raising questions about the EU's future. Rights group Amnesty International said the 28-country bloc could not afford to end another meeting without an agreed plan. "As winter looms, the sight of thousands of refugees sleeping rough as they make their way through Europe represents a damning indictment of the European Union's failure to offer a coordinated response to the refugee crisis," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty's director for Europe and Central Asia. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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